On August 1, 2025, a worker was on the roof of a residential building in Tuen Mun. He was draining dyed water for a seepage test of waterproofing works. He was alone.

His left arm got trapped in a drainage opening. His face was under the water for some time. He was rushed to hospital unconscious and died 13 days later.

On October 8, Chun Yuen Engineer (HK) Company Limited was fined $60,000 at the Tuen Mun Magistrates' Courts. The charge was a violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance. The Labour Department brought the prosecution.

The accident was in August last year. The fine was imposed in October this year, more than a year later.

A seepage test is a routine job. You fill the roof with water, you wait, you see if the ceiling below stays dry. Nobody thinks of it as dangerous. A drainage opening is just a hole in the floor. Put one person on a roof with it and nobody to pull him out, and the hole is all it takes.

If you work on roofs, or you hire people who do, ask who is up there with them.